Pokémon Black and White anniversary set will introduce a new rarity to Pokémon TCG
Black Bolt and White Flare will be released in Japan in June, with the English version following in July
Pokémon’s upcoming trading card game set, which will celebrate 15 years of Pokémon Black and White, will introduce a brand-new rarity.
The set will celebrate the Unova region, which first debuted in Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, released for the Nintendo DS in 2010. The set will include all 156 of the Pokémon originally found in the Unova region to celebrate 15 years since the games were released.
The Pokémon Company has announced that the set will see the debut of a new rarity type, “BWR.” It’s assumed that this will stand for Black and White Rare, which will serve as the highest rarity in the new set. The three cards revealed so far featuring this BWR rarity marker include Reshiram, Zekrom and Victini.
These Pokémon cards, which you can view below, feature unique one-colour designs, which have rarely been seen in the history of the Pokémon TCG. The last time The Pokémon Company printed an entirely silver card was Dialga EX from Phantom Forces, which was released in 2014.
While entirely gold cards are common, cards that are entirely one colour other than gold are extremely rare. It’s unclear if other legendary Pokémon from the Pokémon Black and White games will also get a BWR card.
Images via PokeBeach
The Pokémon Company hasn’t announced the name for the English equivalent of this set, but we do know that it will be released only a month after its Japanese counterpart, and that the set will have around 300 cards to collect when it debuts.
The next English Pokémon TCG set, Destined Rivals, will be released on May 30.
Earlier this year, The Pokémon Company released a statement addressing multiple fan reports that trading cards have been difficult to find.
“We’re aware that some fans are experiencing difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) products due to very high demand impacting availability,” the statement reads.
“We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are actively working to print more of the impacted Pokémon TCG products as quickly as possible and at maximum capacity to acknowledge this. Reprinted products are expected to be available at participating retailers as soon as possible.”
Special sets like Prismatic Evolutions, and the final printings of Pokemon 151, have seen retailers inundated with scalpers who buy the product with the sole intention of selling them for a highly inflated price later.
